Chapter 285 - 271: Isn’t This the Daqian Dynasty?
The two of them raised their heads at the same time and saw the pyramid floating above the clouds, and the aerial racetrack coiling over Anhe City.
Wang Xiedi: "..."
Li Chunfeng: "..."
The two stood frozen on the spot, their minds completely blank.
’Wait... what is that?! Did we take a wrong turn?! Aren’t we supposed to be going to Anhe City? How did Anhe City turn into... this?’
’Why is it surrounded by a barren wasteland?! And that winding, coiling road! What’s that for? Could it be that in the single day since we left the sect, Anhe City has been occupied by some otherworldly demon and completely transformed?!’
Just as they were reeling in shock and confusion, the air around Anhe City suddenly began to ripple. Streaks of white light appeared not far from the city, materializing out of thin air above the wasteland.
The light faded, revealing figures one by one.
Some of these people wore martial arts attire, others plain cloth garments, but without exception, they all looked disheveled, their faces still dazed from having just escaped death.
Wang Xiedi and Li Chunfeng were rather startled to suddenly find several dozen people appearing behind them.
’Weren’t we alone just a moment ago? Where did you all pop out from?!’
They heard the newcomers cursing and sighing. "Fuck! That shithole Jade Dragon Continent is completely unlivable now! And these shitty GMs, what kind of bullshit quests are they handing out?!"
"Exactly! That dog of an emperor from the Biqu Dynasty wanted to live forever, so he dragged us in to be his cannon fodder! And now look, quest failed!"
Listening to the string of words he couldn’t understand, Wang Xiedi grew even more confused. ’Jade Dragon Continent? Biqu Dynasty? Where are those places?’
He walked up to a player who seemed relatively friendly and gave a fist-and-palm salute. "Greetings, brother. Where... are you talking about? Isn’t this the Daqian Dynasty?"
The player glanced at him, then waved his hand in resignation. "Don’t worry about the details. We just got screwed over. Heard the people here were decent, so we came. And now we see that city up ahead."
He pointed toward Anhe City in the distance. "We’ve got nowhere else to go anyway. Target: Anhe City! Let’s go, let’s go! Let’s see if there’s anything fun here!"
Then, that player and a few others activated their Flying Leg costumes and sprinted wildly toward Anhe City.
Wang Xiedi: ’Wait, how are you running so fast without any Cultivation or Inner Strength?!’
...
「Meanwhile, outside the south gate of Anhe City.」
At the base of the staircase that descended from the sky, a massive crowd had gathered.
Ever since Su Ling’er announced the "Heaven-Ascending Run," all of Anhe City had been in an uproar.
A Cultivation manual! A Lifespan Extension Pill! A luminous pearl! And a promise from an immortal sect!
For people living in the mortal world, any one of these rewards was enough to drive them into a frenzy.
For a time, everyone from the city’s common folk to the gentry who had rushed over after hearing the news, and even some traveling merchants passing through, had gathered here, hoping to participate in this grand event that promised a meteoric rise.
Mixed into the crowd were many players whose spawn point was directly in Anhe City, as well as players with Inner Strength who were quicker on their feet and had already entered the city.
They looked at the bustling scene before them, then at the incredible aerial racetrack, and grew excited.
"Holy shit! There’s an event as soon as we get to the new map! This is awesome!"
"Heaven-Ascending Run? Interesting! Isn’t this just like a parkour mode in a game? That’s my specialty!"
"Brothers, did you all see the rewards? A Cultivation manual! We don’t have that! This is a chance to change our fate! Let’s go for it!"
In the crowd, Lin Qingfeng, wearing Wang Xiedi’s face, twitched his ears. He squeezed his way over to the few players who were cursing and asked, "Brothers, from the sound of it, you came from the Jade Dragon Continent?"
The players turned their heads and saw an unfamiliar face. One of them, the same one who had spoken to Wang Xiedi and Li Chunfeng outside the city, looked Lin Qingfeng up and down.
"Holy shit, man, you’re here too? Didn’t I just see you outside the city? How come you didn’t enter the city with us, but came out from inside it instead?"
Lin Qingfeng chuckled to himself but put on a profound, mysterious expression and whispered to them.
[Proximity Channel]
[Lin Qingfeng]: Where did you guys spawn? The Biqu Dynasty? Isn’t that gone? How did you get here from there?
The player was stunned by this move for a moment, then quickly realized what was happening and also switched to the proximity channel.
[Biqu Country Go 4]: Dude, you’re a player too?! I thought you were an NPC! You’re not one of those scammers, are you?
[Lin Qingfeng]: Bullshit. Check my info panel yourself.
[Biqu Country Go 4]: Hmm... this panel definitely doesn’t look like an NPC’s.
[Lin Qingfeng]: This face belongs to an NPC junior brother of mine. I’m just borrowing it. You know how it goes. Lee Feiyu when there’s trouble, Mr. Han when there isn’t.
[Biqu Country Go 4]: Got it! By the way, your junior brother is right outside the city!
[Lin Qingfeng]: So what’s the exact situation over there? You guys managed to get your dynasty spawn point destroyed?
[Biqu Country Go 4]: Don’t fucking mention it! We didn’t destroy it! That fucking dynasty destroyed itself! My blood pressure is skyrocketing just thinking about it! Those devs at Ashen Heaven must have shit for brains!
[Biqu Country Go 4]: They gave us a quest to capture children for Alchemy? What kind of sane person comes up with such a messed-up task? If you took the quest, you got a red name. If you didn’t, you were farmed like a mob. The entire royal city was just one big battle royale pit. The GMs just wanted to fucking watch us players kill each other! The forums blew up, but the GMs acted like they were dead, not replying with a single word! They’re masters at playing possum!
[Passerby B]: ’Force-feeding us shit’? Hell no! They fucking built a trap out of shit and made us step in it! I knew something was off at the time. Turns out saving people counted as treason, and you’d get a dynasty-wide red name!
[Passerby B]: In the end, we were screwed no matter what! Every choice was the wrong one! Those asshole devs were just toying with us like dogs. They must have gotten a real kick out of watching us squirm!
[Passerby C]: My mindset? My fucking mindset exploded long ago! Do you know how long I grinded for my gear?! It was all about to be looted, so I had no choice but to grit my teeth and pay for a ’Rebirth Certificate’! That was hundreds of bucks!
[Biqu Country Go 4]: Ugh, I’m done cursing. I can’t curse anymore, my throat’s hoarse. Your Daqian Dynasty is so much better. We just got here and there’s already a fun event. Look at this racetrack, look at these rewards! Now this is a game made for people to play! At least they’re not shitting all over us!
[Lin Qingfeng]: That’s rough, brothers. But don’t worry, you can rest easy here.
...
「The Real World」
[News Archive]
Recently, feedback from the "Ashen Heaven" player community indicates that some players have encountered an NPC in-game exhibiting abnormal behavior akin to a mental illness. The character claims to have "glimpsed the world’s truth" and frequently uses unconventional terms such as "player," "NPC," and "false world." Players have submitted bug reports to the Ashen Heaven Group, questioning the existence of a system loophole or an unannounced storyline.
The Ashen Heaven Group has officially responded, stating that this phenomenon is a "special situational Easter egg" intended to enrich the immersion of the world-building, but did not disclose the specific design intentions or subsequent plans.